2013122701053459571.jpg (Photo : http://www.soundofhope.org/)
Four people died and more than 20 others were injured when a powerful explosion caused a large blaze that gutted down a shopping mall in Luzhou city in China's southwest province of Sichuan on Dec. 26.
Local authorities said the explosion happened around 10 pm and may have been caused by a gas leak from one of the restaurants inside the mall. Witnesses said they heard explosions coming from the basement of the building but big flames quickly spread through the first and second floors and soon engulfed the whole building, shattering glass windows and causing ceilings to collapse.
A witness who was right next to the burning mall said the fire also razed a nearby bus station which later collapsed. "I heard very loud sound from that way and then the next thing I saw the bus station was down. I think it was really lucky that the accident happened at night time. If this happened during the day, there would have been a lot of more people get injured," the witness said.
Firefighters managed to control the blaze by Friday morning.
